“… C. S. Lewis frequently asserted that other religions contained much truth. ‘And it should (at least in my judgment) be made clear that we are not pronouncing all other religions totally false, but rather saying that in Christ whatever is true in all religions is consummated and perfected.’(15) Geisler is careful to note positive features of such worldviews as pantheism, deism, and even atheism before presenting his critical arguments against those beliefs.(16) The Calvinist theologian B. B. Warfield showed himself consistent with the classical tradition when he made much the same point as Lewis:

‘Christianity does not stand in an exclusively antithetical relation to other religions. There is a high and true sense in which it is also their fulfilment. All that enters into the essence of religion is present in them no less than in it, although in a less pure form. They too possess the idea of God, the consciousness of guilt, the longing for redemption: they too possess offerings, priesthood, temples, worship, prayer. Israel’s Promise, Christianity’s Possession, is also the Desire of all nations.‘(17)“

“… the belief that all religions are basically the same does not take seriously the facts about the different religions. For example, Montgomery criticizes Altizer’s claim that the modern discipline of comparative religions has demonstrated ‘an underlying unity of thought between Eastern mystical religion and the Christian faith’ (18) by noting that the famed comparative religions scholar Mircea Eliade, whom Altizer professes to follow, rejects this idea. Montgomery tells of a conversation he had with Eliade in which the renowned scholar agreed that ‘Christianity’s unique, historical focus on a ‘once-for-all’ incarnation of God in Christ’ sharply distinguishes it from mythical and mystical religions. Altizer’s mistake ‘stems from his general disrespect for historical facts: he will not allow a given religion to speak for itself…’ If Professor Altizer would let the facts speak for themselves, he would have to give up any hope of blending Eastern and Western religion.”(19)

(18) Montgomery, “Death of the ‘Death of God,’” in Suicide of Christian Theology, 125.

“Whereas other religions represent mankind’s best guesses, intuitions, or mystical religious experiences, none of which can be verified as based on truth, Christianity alone represents God’s direct intervention into human history to redeem mankind.”